CVE-2023-4451 in cockpit
Summary
by MITRE • 08/20/2023
Cross-site Scripting (XSS) - Reflected in GitHub repository cockpit-hq/cockpit prior to 2.6.4.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/13/2026
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2023-4451 represents a reflected cross-site scripting flaw within the cockpit-hq/cockpit repository, specifically affecting versions prior to 2.6.4. This issue resides in the web application's input validation mechanisms and demonstrates a critical weakness in how user-supplied data is processed and rendered within the application's response. The vulnerability manifests when the application fails to properly sanitize or escape user-provided parameters before incorporating them into dynamic web content, creating an avenue for malicious actors to inject arbitrary script code that executes in the context of other users' browsers.
The technical implementation of this reflected XSS vulnerability occurs when the cockpit application receives input through HTTP request parameters and directly includes this data in HTML responses without appropriate sanitization or encoding. Attackers can craft malicious URLs containing script payloads that, when visited by unsuspecting users, execute within their browser sessions. This type of vulnerability falls under CWE-79 which specifically addresses Cross-site Scripting flaws, and aligns with ATT&CK technique T1531 which focuses on code injection attacks. The reflected nature of the vulnerability means that the malicious script code is reflected off the web server rather than being stored, making it particularly dangerous in scenarios where users might be tricked into clicking malicious links through social engineering tactics.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data theft or session hijacking, as it can enable attackers to perform actions on behalf of authenticated users, manipulate application functionality, or redirect users to malicious sites. In the context of a cockpit management system, this could potentially allow unauthorized individuals to access sensitive operational data, modify system configurations, or escalate privileges within the application's access controls. The vulnerability's exploitation typically requires user interaction through phishing emails, malicious links in chat systems, or compromised websites that lure victims into executing the crafted payloads. Organizations using affected versions of cockpit-hq/cockpit are at risk of having their users' sessions compromised and their systems potentially used as entry points for further attacks within their network infrastructure.
The remediation strategy for CVE-2023-4451 centers on upgrading to version 2.6.4 or later, which includes proper input validation and output encoding mechanisms to prevent script execution in response content. Security teams should implement comprehensive input sanitization across all user-facing parameters, utilize proper HTML escaping for dynamic content, and consider implementing Content Security Policy headers as additional defense layers. Organizations should also conduct thorough code reviews to identify similar patterns in other application components and establish automated testing procedures to detect XSS vulnerabilities during development cycles. The fix typically involves implementing proper encoding of user-supplied data before rendering it in web responses, ensuring that any potentially malicious script content is neutralized through appropriate escaping mechanisms that prevent execution while preserving intended functionality.